Method and apparatus for filling containers with carbonated liquid



z- 12. 1969 1.. E. Jus'rls- .460,589

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FILLING CONTAINERS WITH CARBONATED LIQUID FiledSept. 13, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet l 4. INVENT OR Lu'msra E. Jus'rlsATTORNEYS 3,460,589 ING CONTAINERS WITH CARBONATED LIQUID 6 Sheets-SheetFiled Sept. 13, 1966 3 M M 4 m 4 w j .w w m v It Q E m WA Aug. 12, 19691.. E JUSTIS 3,460,589

METHOD AN!) APPARATUS FOR FILLING CONTAINERS WITH CARBONATED LIQUIDFiled Sept. 13, 1966 5 Sheet$-Sheet 5 INVENTOR 5 Lu-rHsQ E. Juerrls 6 mwfi wwih 6% W.

\\\\\\\\W R EYS United States Patent 3,460,589 METHOD AND APPARATUS FORFILLING CON- TAINERS WITH CARBONATED LIQUID Luther E. Justis, HowardCounty, Md., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Crown Cork and SealCompany, Incorporated, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of New YorkFiled Sept. 13, 1966, Ser. No. 579,095 Int. Cl. B65b 31/00; B67c 3/00U.S. Cl. 141-6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A process for fillingcontainers wtih carbonated liquid, and a filling head assembly forcarrying out the method. The process includes raising a container to thefilling head, filling the container with a gas under pressure to driveout factory air, flowing liquid into the container while allowing thegas to flow out, and injecting an inert gas into the space in thecontainer above the liquid and into the l1qu1d while lowering thecontainer from the head. The apparatus includes a head with passages forcounterpressure gas, liquid and inert gas, and with a rotatable valvehaving ports to open the head passages in desired sequence to sources ofgas and liquid supply and to the container. A filling tool assemblydepends from the head for entering into containers, and includes afilling tube surrounded by a vent tube, the vent tube having openingsalong its length to allow injecting inert gas into the liquid and headspace of filled containers as the containers are being lowered from thefilling head.

This invention relates to a method and means for filling containers witha corbonated beverage.

Extreme care must be exercised in the handling of carbonated beverages,such as beer, due to the inherent tendency of the liquid to foam whenagitated. Another problem encountered in the packaging of beer, is theabsolute necessity for removing all air from the head space of thecontainer prior to closing.

In the usual filling operation, beer under pressure is maintained in atank above the filling mechanism, and released to flow down into thecontainer to be filled. In order to prevent agitation of the liquid, andto remove all air from the container, the container is first purged bysubjecting it to the pressure in the beer tank head space. Pressure ismaintained in the beer tank by the use of a gas, usually carbon dioxide,and this gas will flow into the container, evacuating atmospheric airand replacing it with carbon dioxide. When the pressure within thecontainer is equal to that in the tank head space, the flow is stopped.Beer can then flow into the container by gravity without pres surechange, and without agitation. When the container is filled to apredetermined level, the beer flow is stopped. The container is thenlowered from the filling apparatus, and as the filling tubes withdrawfrom the container, an unfilled head space is created. In the past, thishead space has been purged of any remaining air by causing the liquid tofoam to the extent of overflow and then closing, or, in some instances,by putting a charge of CO into this head space. In most instances, thecharge of CO was of known amount, and in other instances the containerwas opened to atmosphere after receiving the charge of CO so that thepressure within the container would be reduced to atmospheric pressure.With the use of the foaming procedure. there was considerable waste fromoverflow, and with the CO charge practice there was no assurance thatthe head space was completely filled at the'time that the container wasclosed. If any air remained in the head space deterioration of thebeverage was rapid.

3,460,589 Patented Aug. 12, 1969 The principal object of the presentinvention is to provide a method and means for filling containers with acarbonated beverage, such as beer, wherein the beverage remainsquiescent during filling, air is positively evacuated from the headspace in the container, and the container is maintained in continuouscommunication with a supply of fresh CO during removal from the fillingapparatus, and in some instances up to the point of closure.

A more specific object of the invention is the provision of a method ofthis nature, wherein fresh CO is injected into the beverage in thecontainer and to the head space above the beverage at the outset oflowering the container from the filling apparatus, and is maintained inthe head space during the entire lowering operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus which includes afilling tube and a surrounding tube over which the container is movedfor filling, with the outer tube having spaced outlets along its lengthto emit CO to the container during the full period of removal of the container from the filling tubes.

Still another object of the invention is to provide apparatus includinga valve structure connected to a pair of concentric tubes, whereby theouter tube may be placed in communication with a source of CO foremission into a filled beverage container.

Yet a further object of the invention is to provide a method and meansfor filling containers wherein the beverage in a filled container issubjected to a charge of CO at the same time that a charge of CO isreleased to the head space in the container above the beverage, so thattrapped gases within the beverage will be released to flow into the headspace.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the followingdescription of one practical embodiment thereof, when taken inconjunction with the drawings which accompany, and form part of, thisspecification.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a filling head and control valve madein accordance with the principles of the present invention, a bottle tobe filled being shown in filling position;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section through the valve structure of thefilling head, and is taken on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a face view of the body portion of the filling head with thedisc valve removed;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical section through the filling head with a bottle infilling position, illustrating the valve position for an initial bottlepressurizing step, and is taken on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a vertical section taken at right angles to the sectional ofFIGURE 4, and is taken on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a horizontal section through the filling tubes taken on theline 6-6 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 7 is a horizontal section taken on the line 7-7 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 8 is a horizontal section through the upper portion of thefilling bell, and is taken on the line 8-8 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 9 is a view similar to FIGURE 4, but with the valve turned to thefilling position;

FIGURE 10 is a view similar to FIGURE 9, but with the valve turned tothe CO charging position and the bottom lowering removal position; and

FIGURE 11 is an exploded perspective view of the filling tubecomponents.

In general the invention is concerned primarily with the filling of thehead space in a carbonated beverage container with carbon dioxide, orother inert, gas during the removal of the container from the fillinghead. Structure to accomplish this includes a tube having a plurality ofopenings spaced along its length through which CO can flow, to insurecontinuous charging of the container head space during movement of thecontainer lengthwise of the tube for removal from the filling head.

Referring to the drawings in detail, there is shown a filling head 1,which includes a body member 2 having a downwardly extending nozzleportion 3 and a disc type valve 4 cooperating with the body element andmovable to various positions during the filling cycle of a container.The filling head 1 is secured to a peripheral flange 5 of a reservoirwhich carries the superstructure of a rotary filling machine (notshown). It will be understood that the reservoir contains the carbonatedliquid to be placed in the containers, and there is a superposed body ofgas under pressure filling the head space of the reservoir. The rotaryfilling machine may be of the type disclosed in United States Patent No.2,953,169, and it will be understood that a plurality of filling heads 1are carried about the periphery of the flange 5. There is a containersupporting platform 6 positioned immediately beneath each filling head1, with the platform being vertically reciprocable to move containersupwardly and downwardly, into and out of operative relation with thefilling head.

In the normal operation of a conventional filling machine, conveyorsfeed containers, which may be bottles 7 as illustrated, successively tothe container supporting platforms 6 and the platforms immediately liftthe container vertically into sealing relation with the filling head 1.The filling head valve 4 is then rotated to a position where thecontainer is placed under counterpressure by introducing gas underpressure, either from the gas in the head space of the liquid reservoiror from a separate body of gas under pressure. After the pressure of thegas in the container has built up to a desired level, the filling valve4 is moved to a filling and vent position, wherein the liquid passagethrough the filling head is open to flow and the gas passage for ventinggas from the container is opened. Carbonated liquid from the reservoirflows into the container, and as the level of liquid in the containerrises, the gas within the container is vented through the gas passage ofthe filling head either to the head space in the reservoir, or to aseparate body of gas under pressure. When the container is filled to adesired level, the venting of gas is stopped and the liquid passage isclosed. The container supporting platform 6 is then lowered to break theseal of the container with the filling head, and the filled container istransferred from the platform onto the take-off conveyor where it issuitably closed. This much of the operation of a conventional fillingmachine will be sufficient for an understanding of the presentinvention.

Body member 2 of filling head 1 has a substantially flat rear face 8which is bolted to the outer face 9 of the peripheral flange 5 of thefilling machine. The front surface of the body member 2 has a circularrecess 10, and there is a gasket 11 positioned in the recess so that theouter surface of the gasket forms a seat face 12. A stud 13 projectscentrally from the valve body recess to rotatably mount the disc valve4. The disc valve is centrally apertured, as at 14, to receive stud 13,and a nut 15, threaded on the end of stud 13, secures the parts inposition. The nut includes a cup 16 as a part thereof, and the cupserves as a retainer for a spring 17, interposed between the cup and thedisc valve, to yieldingly hold the disc valve against the seat face 12of gasket 11.

The nozzle portion 3 consists of a collar 18, and concentric filling andvent tubes 19 and 20, respectively. The collar has a substantially flatupper face 21 which seats against the substantially flat lower face 22of the body member 2 of the filling head. The collar is held in positionrelative to the filler head body member by means of a central boss 23 onthe collar which fits within a central recess 24 in the flat lower face22 of the body member 2, and a locating pin 25 projecting upwardly fromthe collar and seated in a hole 26 which opens to the lower face 22 ofthe body member. The collar is held against the lower face of the bodymember by means of a ring nut 27 which screws on the threaded lowersection 28 of the body member.

Collar 18 has a central through opening 29, having an intermediatethreaded section 30 into which the upper threaded end 31 of the fillingtube is screwed for attaching the tube to the collar. The filling tubeis reduced in diameter below the threaded end 31, so that an annularchamber 32 is formed about the tube within the through opening 29. Tube19 has a plurality of longitudinally extending positioning ribs 33spaced about its periphery, the ribs projecting from the tube a distanceequal to the depth of the annular chamber 32 so that the ribs contactthe walls of through opening 29 and hold the tube centered with respectto the collar. Near its lower end, the through opening 29 is increasedin diameter to receive the vent tube 20. The increased width of theenlarged section 34 is only suflicient to accommodate the wall thicknessof vent tube 20, as the interior diameter of the vent tube is equal tothe internal diameter of the upper part of the through opening 29. Theenlarged section 34 terminates in a shoulder 35 which forms an abutmentagainst which the upper end of the vent tube seats when it is inposition on the filling tube. It will be seen that the vent tube fitsclosely about the positioning ribs 33 on the filling tube, so that thevent tube is held concentric to, and in spaced relation with, thefilling tube. The bottom end of the filling tube is again enlarged tothe diameter defined by the positioning ribs 33 to provide a bottomthreaded section 36. A cap 37 is screwed onto the bottom end, and itsupper edge bears against depending legs 38 of the vent tube 20. The legs38 are shown as diametrically opposed leaving the bottom end of the venttube spaced an appreciable distance above the top of the cap 37 so thatfluid may flow in and out of the vent tube. When cap 37 is screwed uptight upon the filler tube, vent tube 20 will be forced tightly againstits seat in the collar and the tubes and collar will be rigidlyconnected in concentric relation. Beside the openings 39, at the bottomof the tube between the tube and cap, vent tube 20 has longitudinallyspaced pluralities of openings 40 arranged in circular fashion about thetube. The openings 40 are relatively small, and there may be as manycircular series of these openings as desired spaced along the vent tube.The top series of openings 4%, however, should be so positioned thatwhen a container, such as bottle 7, is in filling position relative tothe head, the upper series of openings 40 will be within the mouth, orneck, of the bottle. This, of course, will place all of the openings ofthe vent tube within the container during the filling operation.

Beneath the collar, and slidable on vent tube 20, there is a containercentering bell 41. The bell has a flat top 42, cylindrical side walls 43and a flaring bottom mouth 44. The bell also has a horizontal partition45, dividing the bell into a closed upper chamber 46 and an openbottomed lower chamber 47. Bushings 48 and 49 are mounted in centralopenings in the top and partition walls 42 and of the bell for slidingcontact with the vent tube 20. A container mouth sealing gasket 50 ispositioned within the bell beneath the partition wall 45. A gasket 51 islocated between the bottom of the collar 18 and the top of the bell, andis attached to the collar. Normally, the bell will be at its lowermostposition with the bushing 49 resting upon the bottom cap 37 on thefiller tube. As a bottle rises on its platform 6, it will enter theflared mouth of the bell and contact gasket 50 to lift the bell withcontinued upper movement of the bottle until the bell is in sealingrelation with gasket 51.

The back of body member 2 of the filling head will have three pipelinesconnected to it, a beverage line 52 which will be in communication withthe liquid beverage in the beverage tank, a line 53 which communicateswith the pressurized head space of the tank, and a line 54 from a supplyof CO under pressure. These three lines are connected to a series ofpassageways and ports within the filling head, which, in turn, areplaced in selective registry with ports in the disc valve 4 to controlflow of fluid through the nozzle portion of the filling head.

Beverage line 52 opens into a check valve chamber 55 at the back of thebody member 2. There is a ball 56 in chamber 55 which can close off aliquid passage 57 leading from the check valve chamber and opening atthe seat face 12 of gasket 11 as port 58. Ball 56 closes the liquidpassage automatically in the event a bottle fails to make proper sealwith the filling head to prevent the loss of liquid. There is a secondliquid port 59 at the seat face 12 at the end of a second liquid passage60 in communication with the through opening 29 at the center of thecollar 18 and a central passage 61 through the filling tube 19. Discvalve 4 has companion ports 62 and 63 to ports 58 and 59 of the bodymember, ports 61 and 62 being similarly spaced and located relative tothe axis of stud 13 as are the ports 58 and 59. Ports 62 and 63 form theoutlet ends of a bridge passage 64 in the disc valve. Consequently, whenthe disc valve is rotated so that port 62 is in registry with port 58and port 63 is in registry with port 59, the beverage line 52 from thesupply tank will be in communication with the filler tube 19.

Line 53 from the tank head space opens into a manifold passage 65 in thebody member of the filler head. Line 53 connects to the manifold passageat a central point, and at the ends of the passage there are ports 66and 67 opening to the seat face 12. A second gas passage 68 in the bodymember 2 has a port 69 opening to the seat face 12. Passage 68 extendsto the bottom of body member 2 where it joins a passage 70 throughcollar 18. Passage 70 opens at its lower end into an annular passage 71,which passage opens to the interior of gasket 51. Bushings 48 and 49 inthe bell 41 are channeled on their inner faces, as at 72 and 73,respectively, and as the center of gasket 51 is in open communicationwith channels 72, gas can pass through gasket 48 into the upper chamber46 of the bell, then through channel 73 in gasket 49 into the bottle 7.There is still a third gas passage 74 in the body member 2, whichpassage has a port 75 opening to the seat face 12, and is in opencommunciation at its lower end with a passage 76 in collar 18. The lowerend of passage 76 opens into the annular chamber 32 between the fillingtube 19 and the through opening 29. This chamber, of course, leads tothe passage between the filling tube and vent tube.

Line 54 which is connected to a suply of fresh CO under pressure, opensto a passage 77 which leads directly across the body member to open atthe seat face 12 in a port 78.

There is one additional passage 79 in the body member, which extendsfrom a port 80 at the seat face 12 out through the side of the bodymember by means of an open port '81 to atmosphere.

The various passages 65, 68, 74, 77 and 79 are interconnected at varioustimes by means of two manifold passageways 82 and 83 in the disc valve4. Passageway 82 is approximately V-shaped, and passageway 83 issubstantially straight. Manifold passageway 82 has four portscommunicating with the disc valve face at the seat face 12, a port 84 atone end of one leg of the V- shape, a port 85 at the end of the otherleg of the V-shape, a port 86 at the convergence of the two legs, and aport 87 intermediate the ports 84 and 86. Manifold passageway 83 hasthree ports, a port 88 at one end, a port 89 at the other end, and aport 90 intermediate the other two.

The disc valve 4 is caused to move rotatively to interconnect thevarious ports and control the flow of fluid through them by means of anoperating arm 91 which is actuated by cams, in well known fashion, tomove the disc valve about the stud 13 as required.

When the apparatus is in use, bottles 7 upon platforms 6 will be raisedsuccessively to the filler heads. When a bottle begins its upwardtravel, bell 41 is at the bottom of the nozzle assembly 3, suspendedfrom the cap 37. As the bottle moves upwardly it will enter the flaredchamher 47 of the bell and be centered with respect to the fillingapparatus. When the bottle mouth contacts gasket 50 in the bell it willcause the bell to move upwardly with the bottle until the bell seatsagainst gasket 51 at the bottom of collar 18. At this time the bottlemouth will be sealed by the gasket 50, with the filler and vent tubesprojecting into the bottle to a level near the bottle bottom, and themouth of the bottle in open communication with the channels 73 throughthe bushing 49 in the partition of the bell. As the bottle movesupwardly, and as the filler tube end enters the bottle mouth, controlarm 91 will be moved so as to rotate disc valve 4 to the position shownin FIGURE 4 of the drawings. This will bring port 84 of the manifoldpassageway 82 in the valve disc into registry with port 66 of themanifold passage 65 in the body member 2 in connection with the line 53from the head space. At the same time, port 87 of the manifold 82 comesinto registry with port 69 of passageway 68 in the body member. Thus,the valve will be positioned to admit gas from the tank head space intothe passageway 68 which is in communication with passageway 70 in thecollar, annular chamber 71, channels 72 in bushing 48, the upper bellchamber 46, and channels 73 in bushing 49 which are open to the bottlemouth. It will be seen from FIGURE 4 that at the time the disc valverotates to bring port 84 into registry with port 66, it also causes port88 to register with port 67 and port 89 to register with port 75. Thiscompletes a second passageway from the head space in the tank to thebottle. The second passageway includes the line 53 from the head space,manifold passage 65, port 67, port 88, manifold passage 82, port 89,port 75, lines 74 and 76 to the annular space 32 about the filler tube19 and to the space between tube 19 and vent tube 20. Therefore, twopassages are opened to the flow of gas from the head space to the bottleto first purge the bottle of shop air as it moves up over the tubeassembly to sealingly position, and then, after seal is made, to put thebottle under counter pressure equal to the pressure of the tank headspace.

When the pressure in the bottle has reached its desired level, discvalve again moves, this time to the position shown in FIGURE 9 to allowbeer to flow from the tank into the bottle. In this position, bridgepassage 64 in the disc valve has its ports 62 and 63 in communicationwith the beer ports 58 and 59 in the body member. Port 58 leads from thebeverage line 52, and port 59 is in line 60 which opens to the throughopening 29 in collar 18 and the central passage 61 through filler tube19. Thus, beer can flow by gravity from the supply tank to the bottle.At this time, ports and 86 of the manifold passageway 82 are incommunication with the ports 66 and 69 in the body member 2 so as toreestablish communication between the bottle and the tank head space.This permits gas from the bottle to flow back to the head space as it isdisplaced by the beverage.

When the beverage reaches the bushing 49 in the bell and shuts off flowof counterpressure gas through passages 73 back to the head space,beverage flow will be automatically cut off. At this time the valve willbe operated again, to cut off the beverage flow line and establish anopen passage from the fresh gas line 54 to the container. This positionof the valve is shown in FIGURE 10. The bridge line 64 has moved so thatit is no longer connecting the fluid ports 58 and 59, while manifoldpassageway 83 is positioned so that its ports 89 and are incommunication with the body member ports 78 and 75. This establishescommunication from line 54,

through passage 77 to port 78, and from port 75 through lines 74 and 76to the annular passage 32 in collar 18, and the annular spaces betweenthe filler tube and vent tube.

It will be understood that the tube assembly within the bottle displacesa certain amount of liquid, and as the bottle is lowered on its platform6, the liquid level in the bottle will drop as the tube assemblywithdraws to leave an appreciable head space within the bottle. Duringthe entire time the bottle is moving downwardly off of the tubeassembly, fresh CO from line 53 is entering the bottle from the venttube. As the bottle begins its lowering movement, CO will be enteringthe liquid through the openings 39 in the bottom of the tube, and theseveral annular rows of openings 40 spaced above the bottom of the tube.When the bell leaves gasket 51, the channels 72 in bushing 48 are openso that the CO can exhaust through these passages. Immediately thebottle begins to lower, the upper row of openings 40 in the vent tubewill be uncovered and fresh CO will be injected into the bottle headspace. At the same time, CO is entering the beverage through theopenings 39 and the lower row of openings 40. During the downwardmovement of the bottle these several rows of openings will besequentially uncovered so that they will empty into the head space ofthe bottle. Thus, at the beginning of the lowering movement, andthroughout the major portion of the downward movement of the bottle,fresh CO is being fed to the bottle head space and, at the same time,into the liquid itself. The constant flow of CO into the head space willassure complete filling of that space with CO and the injection of COinto the liquid will release gases that might be locked in the beverageand free it to flow upward into the head space. Consequently, when thebottle is fully removed from the filling tube assembly, the bottle headspace is completely filled with CO so that there can be no remaining airwithin the bottle. The bottle is either capped immediately, or, if thebottle must be moved a short distance, it is moved through a gas filledtunnel to maintain the head space filled with the gas until the cappingoperation is completed.

With the filling method just described, there can be no air in thefilled containers, for the gas under pressure is flowed into the headspace of the container during the entire time that the container isbeing removed from the filling apparatus, and also into the beverageitself so as to release gases which are trapped in the liquid. This isdone without agitation of the beverage, and Without beverage loss fromoverflow. The entire operation is accomplished without need foradditional apparatus, and it can be accomplished during the time thatthe bottle is being removed from the filling head so that there is nointerference with the high speed filling which is now possible.

While in the above one practical embodiment of the invention has beendisclosed, it will be understood that the details of structure shown anddescribed are merely by way of illustration, and the invention can takeother forms within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of filling containers with carbonated liquid using a fillertube comprising, raising a container over the tube, filling thecontainer with a gas under pressure, flowing carbonated liquid throughthe tube into the container to a predetermined level while allowing thegas to flow out, and injecting an inert gas under pressure into thespace above the liquid level during lowering the container from thefilling tube to assure complete filling of the space in the containerabove the liquid level with inert gas prior to capping.

2. A method of filling containers with a carbonated liquid using afiller tube as claimed in claim 1 wherein, the inert gas is alsoinjected simultaneously into the liquid in the container during loweringthe container from the filling tube to drive trapped air bubbles fromthe liquid prior to capping.

3. Apparatus for filling containers with carbonated liquid comprising, afilling head including a body and a filling tube assembly with a fillingtube and a surrounding tube in spaced concentric relation, thesurrounding tube having a plurality of outlets spaced longitudinallyalong its length to vent containers during filling with liquid and toinject an inert gas into liquid in filled containers and to space in thecontainers above the liquid level continuously during removal of thefilling tube assembly from the container after filling.

4. Apparatus for filling containers with carbonated liquid as claimed inclaim 3 wherein, the filling tube has, circumferentially spacedlongitudinally extending ribs to position the surrounding tubeconcentrically to the filling tube, the surrounding tube terminates atits bottom in at least one downwardly extending leg, and there is a capthreaded on the bottom of the filling tube upon which the surroundingtube leg rests to hold the bottom of the surrounding tube spaced fromthe cap.

5. Apparatus for filling containers with carbonated liquid as claimed inclaim 4 wherein, the space between the cap and the bottom of thesurrounding tube forms the lowermost of the longitudinally spacedoutlets, and the remaining outlets are in circumferential groups spacedlongitudinally of the surrounding tube.

6. Apparatus for filling containers with carbonated liquid as claimed inclaim 3 wherein, there are counterpressure, liquid, and inert gaspassages in the filler head body, and a valve member having means toconnect the counterpressure passage to a container in place on thefilling head, the liquid passage to the filling tube, and the inert gaspassage to the surrounding tube in predetermined sequence.

7. Apparatus for filling containers with carbonated liquid as claimed inclaim 6 wherein, the valve member is a rotatable disc valve havingmanifold passageways bridging the selected passages of the filling headbody when the disc valve is rotated to selected positions.

8. Apparatus for filling containers with carbonated liquid as claimed inclaim 7 wherein, the filling tube has circumferentially spacedlongitudinally extending ribs to position the surrounding tubeconcentrically to the filling tube, the surrounding tube terminates atits bottom in at least one downwardly extending leg, and there is a capthreaded on the bottom of the filling tube upon which the surroundingtube leg rests to hold the bottom of the surrounding tube spaced fromthe cap.

9. Apparatus for filling containers with carbonated liquid as claimed inclaim 8 wherein, the space between the cap and the bottom of thesurrounding tube forms the lowermost of the longitudinally spacedoutlets, and the remaining outlets are in circumferential groups spacedlongitudinally of the surrounding tube.

10. Apparatus for filling containers with carbonated liquid as claimedin claim 9 wherein, there is a container centering device slidablymounted on the filling tube assembly, means on the centering device toseal with a container and with the filling head, and passages throughthe centering device to complete the passage from the counterpressureline to the container when the centering device is in sealing relationwith the filling head and a container.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,957,289 10/1960 Monroe et al.141-295 X 3,212,537 10/1965 Hinxlage et al. l416' HOUSTON BILL, 111.,Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

